Migration, Remittances, and Development Dependence in Small Economies

Abstract

This article examines the double character of remittances in small economies. On one hand, they stabilize households, support consumption, finance education, and provide foreign exchange. On the other, sustained reliance on migrant income can deepen structural dependence, mask domestic productivity weaknesses, and reorient development around out-migration rather than transformation at home. Drawing on contemporary migration and remittance evidence, the article argues that the policy challenge is not to reduce remittances, but to avoid building a development model that depends on permanent labour export. Small economies need strategies that convert remittance inflows into broader productive capacity through financial inclusion, investment intermediation, skills return pathways, and diaspora-linked enterprise ecosystems. The article concludes that remittances are best understood as development support, not development strategy in themselves.